22 April 2019, by: Quintin van Jaarsveld

SUPER RUGBY SA TEAM OF THE WEEK – ROUND 10

Round 10 of Super Rugby was a rough one for South African sides, with the Lions emerging as the lone victors over the Easter weekend.

The men from Johannesburg pulled off an impressive upset against the Chiefs in Hamilton, however, the rest of the round proved tough to watch for South African rugby supporters, with the Sharks and Stormers slumping to home defeats to the Reds (21-14) and Brumbies (19-17) respectively.

As a result, our Team of the Week is largely made up of Lions.

All three fullbacks had good outings. Willemse shades it with his relentless and elusive attacking effort. The Stormers’ key offensive weapon ran with the ball 17 times, made 89 metres, broke the line, beat two defenders and kept the ball alive in contact.

In what must’ve been a very frustrating afternoon out on the wing, he was brilliant every time he touched the ball. Beat no less than nine would-be tacklers, made one clean break and ran for 75 metres in 10 carries. Good in the air and won a turnover as well.

Made the hard yards in midfield and put himself in good positions on defence, which saw him claim two turnovers.

Carried the Sharks on his back with a team-high 17 carries, from which he made 85 metres, two line breaks and beat five defenders. Also made a backline-high eight tackles.

Had few chances but troubled the defence when the ball came his way. Most importantly, took his only try-scoring opportunity. Won a turnover on the deck too.

While he started and spent most of the match in midfield, the poor performances of Robert du Preez and Josh Stander see Jantjies crack the nod at flyhalf, where he reverted to after young Gianni Lombard got injured. Looked promising and reinvigorated at centre, was a backline leader, accurate off the tee and ran things back at pivot.

The experienced campaigner took much of the pressure off Lombard and was quick to the breakdown and crisp with his distribution to keep the Lions machine moving forward.

A game-changer. That’s what the returning Lions skipper was with his calming presence, leadership and big plays. A ranging, roaring Lion, he was his busy self on defence and particularly effective on attack, putting Malcolm Marx into a gap with a brilliant ball and stabbing a grubber through for Dyantyi to collect and score.

Pieter-Steph du Toit was impressive and gave his all for the Stormers, however, Brink’s output was even more outstanding. The Lions loose forward made 13 carries, a team-high 12 tackles and a key maul steal on his own five-metre line.

Highly energetic, the ever-present ex-Blitzbok was all over the show, making surging runs, offloads and 10 tackles.

Has become a key and consistent performer for the Lions and Round 10 was no different. Had the lineouts on lock and was good around the park.

The former Baby Bok captain took it to the Reds physically, both on attack and defence. Unlucky to be denied his first Super Rugby try due to a Wilco Louw knock-on.

Absolutely monstrous. A strong contender for Player of the Week, he feasted on the Chiefs’ scrum, scored a try with one of his seven carries and made six tackles.

Had a big game without the added responsibility of captaining the team. Literally led the Lions’ charge with an unrivalled 14 carries, one of which was a storming line break, and bumped off two would-be tacklers.

Exceptional workrate by the beloved veteran. His 11 carries were second only to Esterhuizen’s aforementioned 17 and he stopped nine Reds runners in their tracks.

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